The ice is out at many rinks across Vancouver Island, making way for the start of box lacrosse season. This year the Cowichan Valley Lacrosse Association has six teams competing in the Vancouver Island Minor Lacrosse Commission leagues, including U17B, U13B, U11, two U9 teams, and a U7 team.
Also playing out of Cowichan are a junior B team, which competes in the Pacific Northwest Lacrosse League, and two senior C teams, the senior Thunder and the Cowichan Rats which play in the Vancouver Island Lacrosse League.
Senior C
After beating the junior B Thunder on April 12, the senior C Thunder met the Saanich Express at Kerry Park Arena on April 13 to officially open their season. Team spokesperson Chris Claxton said the Thunder were up against a tight and fast Express and despite the speed of a trio of junior B call-ups, ultimately, Cowichan fell 9-6.
The Rats had played their first game the previous night against the Snuneymuxw Sun Devils, losing 12-9.
The Thunder and the Rats meet for the first all-Cowichan meeting of the season at 7 p.m. on April 20 at Kerry Park Arena.
Junior B
The Jr. B Thunder have to wait until April 21 for their first league game of the season when they'll take on the Westshore Bears at Kerry Park Arena at 7 p.m. To hold the eager players over until then, the Thunder had their annual pre-season exhibition match against the senior C Thunder at Kerry Park Arena on Saturday, April 12.
Despite boasting a much bigger bench than the seniors, who had just nine runners, the junior Thunder fell 16-12.
U17 B
The U17 Thunder opened their season with a 12-9 victory over Alberni/Oceanside on April 12 at Kerry Park Arena. Darwin Clark earned the game MVP honours for stepping in to play goal.
The Thunder played Peninsula the following day, losing 8-7 in a closely contested battle. Goalie Aeden Groicher was the team's MVP.
The U17s play host to Juan de Fuca and Comox Valley on April 19 and 20 respectively. Both games are at Kerry Park.
U13B
After a 9-9 draw with Peninsula on April 6, the U13B Thunder were looking for their first win of the season on April 12 at Kerry Park but what they got was another tie, this time a 7-7 draw against the visiting Oceanside Sharks. Jack McKamey was the team's MVP.
Led by MVP Bentley Kinnaird, the squad had a third chance to get their first win on April 13 but Nanaimo managed to best them by an 8-7 score.
The Thunder will try for their first win against Saanich at 12 p.m. on April 19 at Kerry Park. They'll play the following day as well, again at Kerry Park, but against Peninsula with a 1 p.m. start.
U11
The U11 Thunder are preparing to meet Juan de Fuca 2 on April 20 at 11:30 a.m. and Juan de Fuca 3 on April 22 at 6 p.m. to open their season.
Both games are at Kerry Park Arena.
